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[Anthony]

Are you new to Pin Trading?  Do you wonder why Pin Traders are so crazy about pins and what it's all about?  Then read on...

Pin Trading Basics

Pin Trading is really very simple to understand, and it was created by Disney as a way for Guests to communicate more with Cast Members and other Guests by trading small metal lapel pins featuring Disney.  Their hope is that as you exchange one pin for another you share a small story or bit of information about that pin such as where you bought it or who traded it to you.  In Paris, however, because of the language differences this can sometimes be hard, but as long as you can understand and speak at least bit of French you should get by with no problem.  Just remember the phrase: "Aimeriez vous echanger?" - "Would you like to trade?"

Cast Members participating in Pin Trading will wear a lanyard with about a dozen pins. The pins are not up for sale, but are intended for trading at the various encounters and upon request by guests.


How do you get started?

If you don't visit the park very often then you might just want to collect the pins during your visit, but if you are spending quite a few days in DLRP or you visit the resort often then all you need to do is buy yourself a Lanyard.  A Lanyard is a long piece of material that has a Pin Trading badge on it and is worn around your neck with the pins you wish to trade displayed on it.  In the resort over 1000 Cast Members have them, so you should see what they look like straightaway.



Various seasonal and themed Lanyards were released in 2003 such as Princesses, Toy Story, Halloween and Christmas.  All of these came with four pins already attached, two of two different designs.  This allows you to kep one for your collection and trade the other with Pin Traders you meet.

Having just two pins to trade won't be very exciting though, so it's best to buy a few more from the Pin Trading racks in the shops.  The best ones to choose are the normal Open Edition €6 ones, but try to choose interesting and different ones so that you get the most trades.

The best places to buy pins and lanyards and also to trade your pins are the following Pin Trading Super Stations:
In Disneyland Park
- Emporium, Main Street USA
- Pin Cart, Main Street USA (near Gibson Girl)
- Geppetto's Store, Fantasyland
In Disney Village
- Hollywood Pictures Store, left side of main avenue

There used to be a Super Station in "Walt Disney Studios Store", but this closed in early 2004 because it was simply not popular enough.  You can, however, still find a good selection of pins in there and also in "Legends of Hollywood" in Disney Studio 1.

You can also find pins on sale in most of the resort's shops, aswell as the Disney shops in all 10 of the Disney and DLRP Selected Hotels.


Pin Trading Rules

There are a few important rules you should remember when Pin Trading, here they are as officially written:

- Pins may be traded with Cast Members or guests wearing a lanyard.

- When trading a pin with a Cast Member, the guest should offer a pin that is not already displayed on the Cast Member's lanyard.

- Only Disney pins will be accepted for trading: they must be made of metal and represent a Disney event, place, character or icon.

- Trade one pin at a time, hand to hand

So now you know all about Pin Trading there's only one thing to do - start trading and start sharing the Magic! :sorcerer:

[Kristof]

What are the prices of lanyards and pins?  :?:

[Anthony]

The prices of lanyards and especially pins are not set and seem to change every so often, but for lanyards you should expect to pay the following prices:

NORMAL STARTER KIT - €19.90
normal lanyard & 4 pins - 2 mickey, 2 minnie

THEMED STARTER KIT - €19.90
themed lanyard & 4 pins - 2 of two different designs
only available seasonally, sell out fairly quickly, sometimes Limited Edition (LE)

EMPTY LANYARD - €7.50
An empty Pin Trading lanyard with no pins on it and a card holder attached.  A new version of this is now available with the "Disneyland Resort Paris" long/thin logo printed on the black strap part in red.

The prices of pins are not set although their is some form of pattern with the recent releases.  You can usually work out the price of a pin depending on two things:
- If it is LE or not
- What special features it has (such as pin-on-pin(3D), spinner, slider, etc.)

The following prices usually apply:
€6.00 - Normal pin, no major special features
€8.50 - Open Edition: sliders, 3D, spinners, larger dangle pins
€10.50 - Most LE pins
€13.00/13.50 - Certain LE pins with major special features (such as doors opening, etc.) or two pin sets (usually on one card)
€15.00 - Light-up pins
€19.90 - Three pin boxed sets (current usual price)
€25.00 - Musical Pins (only one released so far, for Christmas 2003)

With the prices not being set it's hard to give a proper price guide for pins, but i hope that helps.  :wink: :ears:

[Nikkibelle18]

Do the pins have a certain trademark thing?

The reason why I'm aksing is because when I was in DLRP, I bought one Belle pin. Later on, I was given another Disney pin (Pluto), but they weren't the same (the Pluto one didn't have "Disneyland Paris Resort" written at the back.

[Anthony]

Welcome to the forum Nikkibelle18!  I hope you enjoy it here!  :wink:

Do the pins have a certain trademark thing?

The reason why I'm aksing is because when I was in DLRP, I bought one Belle pin. Later on, I was given another Disney pin (Pluto), but they weren't the same (the Pluto one didn't have "Disneyland Paris Resort" written at the back.

To be able to trade a pin, it must be an official one, which is usually shown with a "(C) Disney" stamp on the back.  Only pins from Disneyland Resort Paris have the "Disneyland Resort Paris" logo stamp, although some releases (especially older ones) don't have this.  It doesn't mean the pin isn't official, it just means they weren't using that stamp when the pin was made, or it came from another resort.  Just check for those "(C) Disney" stamps and you *should* be ok.  :wink:

[Nikkibelle18]

Thanks Anthony! I'm loving it already

Oh, ok, I get it. Well, I'm not really interested in the pin trading thing because I don't go to Eurodisney every year plus they don't have those kinds of clubs here in Portugal.

But thanks for the info

[Anthony]

Oh, ok, I get it. Well, I'm not really interested in the pin trading thing because I don't go to Eurodisney every year plus they don't have those kinds of clubs here in Portugal.

It's the same for me really.  I've never actually traded pins because I only visit the resort about once a year, so it doesn't seem worth buying the lanyard and pins to trade just for those visits.  I'm definately more interested in collecting things rather than trading them, anyway. (I'm one of those Pin people who has to keep every pin on its original backing card... lol)  :wink: